Photo-utho



nnirnn srnrns PATENT onirica.

HENRY R.. WORTHINGTON, 'OF NEWV YORK, N. Y.

MAN'NER 0F CONSTRUCTING AND GOVERNNG AUXILIARY STEAM-ENGINES FOR THE PURPOSE 0F SUPPLYING STEAMeBOILERS WITH WATER.

Specification of -Le'tters `Patent No. 3,677, dated July 24, 1844.

. To all whom #may concern y Be it known that I, HENRY R. VoRri-IING- rox, of the city of New York, in the State f New York, have made certain new and usefn'l improvements in the manner of constructing and governing auxiliary steamlengines tor the purpose of supplying stea1nboilers with water;` and I do hereby declare thatl the following isa full and exact `description thereof.

\ In the accompanying drawing, I' have represented 4my auxiliary engine, and a forcepump connected therewith. shown a part of a steam boiler which has a portion of its cylindrical shell removed, for the purpose of exhibiting the manner in which I construct and arrange a float and valve for the supplying of steam to work the auxiliary engine. In the general arrangement of my auxiliary engine and n gine, within which there is a s'lidewalveof the ordinary construction, the .seat of which is curved, as is iusual where the valve `is Y moved by the vibration fof its stem, `this be`` pump there is not anything new, such Iengines and pumps having been in use prior to the invention `by me `of the improvements therein which I am about to describe.

A, is the steam cylinder Fof the auxiliary engine, and B, the cylinder `of 'the forcepump. The steam cylinder is furnished with a slide valve, steam ports, or openings, a piston, piston rod, and other appendages ordinarily used.

C, is the piston rod, `the extension of which into the force-pump constitutes the plunger of that part of the apparatus.

My principal improvement in the auxiliary engine consists in the manner of rendering the action of the slidewalve certain, wit-hout its being necessary to de pend upon the momentum of the engine therefor. The movement of this valve has, heretofore, been produced by attaching a projecting pin to the piston rod, or to a rod connected therewith, which pin was, at the proper time, made to strike a leveron the valve stem, and thereby to move the slide-valve in the proper direction for the alternate admission of steam on the opposite sides of the piston. Then the engine is thus arranged, the momentum of the moving parts is depended on for continuing t-he motion of the valve beyond the steam ports, or openings; but

`it has been found, in practice, with all engines of this description that the momentum is frequently insufficient for this purpose; its

motion is often extremely shown, as when the water is nearly at the required height in the boiler, the quantity of steamthat passes to the auxiliary engine is very small, and the valve is, consequently, liable to stop in such a position as to cover both of the steam vopenings into the cylinder. `When this happens, the aid of an assistant is requisite to start the engine anew, as with- 4 out :such aid it wouldyremain forever fat rest, whateverfmight be the elastic force of the steam admitted. By my improvement, the danger of thee-topping of the valve in such a position is eiiz'ectualfly obvi'ated. I have also l ment is Vdependent may be carried into effect 1n various ways, but I have, in the accom The principle upon which my improvepanying drawing, represented that which, after careful experiment, I have found to be one of the most simple, and know t be perfectly eEective.

D, is the steam chest of my auxiliary ening so moved by the stem, a. To this stem I attach an arm, or lever, n, which extends gdown, and passes betweenmtwo projecting pins, the places rof which are 'shown Pby "the idotted lines, 0, c, yon the head of the T- `formed piece, d, which piece vi-brates on a center at e. piece, as at f, there is a friction roller, against which a sliding piece, g, is born lnp by a spiral spring, h, `the piece g, is guided up and down by passing through holes in the studs, z', z', orin any other convenient manner, its rheald is .in the form rep- Toward the lower fend of this resented in the drawing, where it is shown as forming two inclined planes, meeting in an angular point at its apex.

A sliding rod, j, j, which is attached to the piston rod by an arm, is, and passes through sockets at z', Z, Z,carries two tappets, m, m, which operate on the lower end of the vibrating piece cl. The pins c, c, which receive between them the lower end of the arm, or lever, Z), are so far apart as to allow said lever to vibrate to a considerable distance out of Contact with either of them.

Under this arrangement, it will be seen that when the engine is in motion the tap` pets, m, m, being alternately brought into Contact with the vibrating piece, cl, will move it back and forth, alternately depressing and relaxing the spiral spring, IL;

vback and forth alternately, with unerring certainty; it Vbeing impossible for the valves Y. tov continue, for an instant, over both steam ports.

It will be perceived by any competent machinist that a like effect may be produced by substituting a tumbling weight for the spring and slide, 7L, and g, which weight may be placed on an arm rising vertically above the vibrating piece, d, and firmly at` tached thereto; the tappets will then operate so as alternately to throw the arm beyond the vertical position, when the weight, from its gravitation, will produce the desired effect.

In order to render the auxiliary engine self-acting without requiring any attention on the part of the engineer, I place a float within the boiler, which, as the water descends below its ordinary level, will, through the intervention of a lever,.act upon a valve, and open it to such extent as is necessary to regulate the quantity of steam passing thro-ugh it; which will be proportioned to the deficiency of water in the boiler. I have, in the accompanying drawing, shown two different modes of aranging the float and valve, either of which will answer the intended purpose.

E, isa tube, or chamber, containing a throttle-valve, a; F, is a iioat, from the stem, 0, of which a lever extends, and is attached, at its opposite end, to the valve, n. It will be manifest, under this arrangement,

i that as the float, F, descends, the throttle valve will be opened, and that in exact proportion thereto.

G, G, is the tube by which the steam is conveyed to the auxiliary engine. The valve n, will act with equal ease whatever may be the pressure of steam within the boiler, its surface on each side of its center of motion being equal. I make my flo-at of metal, and hollow; its stem, 0, is tubular, as shown by the dot-ted lines, and extends up to a considerable height above the water line; the oat may, therefore, be made as light as be desired, without the possibility of its collapsing by the pressure of steam; and

should any water be formed in it by con-VV densation, it will be evaporated whenever the boiler is heated.

IvI, is a float for the same purpose as F, though diifering from it in form; it is, how` ever, similar to it in its construction and operation, being hollow, and having a tube, 0, rising from it. This float is connected to a puppet valve, p, which is made to open outward, like the ordinary safety valve; it is kept closed only by the action of the float when the water is suiiiciently high; but when it is too low, the pressure of the steam concurs with the descent of the float in opening the valve. This valve should be small, or the pressure of highly elastic steam might counteract the buoyancy of the float.

Having thus fully described the nature of my invention, and shown the manner in which the same may be carried into operation, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The manner in which I govern the action of the slide valve of the auxiliary engine, by the aid of the tappets, the vibrating piece, eZ, the sliding piece, g, and their appendages, as set forth. I claim the so regulating of this action, whether the apparatus be constructed precisely in the form represented, or in any other in which a like effect is produced by means substantially the same.

A. WORTHINGTON, R. HENRY IsHAM. 

